Sadiq Khan’s office apologises after failing to probe concerns tied to ex-deputy mayor

The Mayor of London’s office has apologised to a whistleblower after failing to investigate concerns around the business dealings of one of Sadiq Khan’s former deputies, Rajesh Agrawal, City A.M. can reveal.

Agrawal, a close ally of Khan who served as the deputy mayor of London for business between 2016 and 2023, has come under fire in recent months after the foreign exchange firm he owned and co-founded, RationalFX, collapsed into administration last November.

The bankruptcy left customers some £14.9m out of pocket and has triggered a wave of criticism from former staff and customers, who have questioned how much Agrawal knew about the Canary-Wharf based fintech’s financial position prior to its downfall.

He has insisted repeatedly that he stopped playing an active role in the firm after taking on the role of deputy mayor in 2016. He stepped down as a non-executive director in 2022 but still owned more than half the company when it failed last year.

However, a whistleblower raised concerns to City Hall in October 2022 claiming he continued to be “very active” and involved in decision making despite not disclosing this on his register of interests, emails obtained by City A.M. show. Agrawal strongly denies the claim. 

City Hall failed to investigate the complaints but Sadiq Khan’s deputy chief of staff, Richard Watts, has now apologised and blamed an administrative error for failing to follow up on the issue, nearly two years after it was initially filed.

“Responsibility for investigation allegations against GLA falls to an individual’s line manage[r]– myself in the case of Rajesh Agrawal. However, your emails were never passed onto me as the appropriate person to investigate,” Watts wrote in an email last week, seen by City A.M.

“So the Mayor of London’s Office only became aware of your complaints […] at the end of June. I am sorry indeed therefore about the delay in the GLA replying to you. Your emails should have been brought to my attention much sooner and I share your annoyance that this did not happen.”

Agrawal stepped down from his role as deputy mayor for business last year to focus on contesting the seat of Labour East for Labour at the general election. He lost the seat to the Tory candidate after the left vote was splintered by independent candidates.

After he was approached for comment yesterday, a spokesperson for Agrawal denied claims he played an active role in the company after stepping down as chief executive.

“Any suggestions that Rajesh Agrawal was running the business on a day-to-day basis while serving as deputy mayor are completely false and utter nonsense,” the spokesperson said. “Rajesh Agrawal stood down as CEO in 2016 and as a non-executive director in 2022. All his interests were properly disclosed and are publicly available.”

A spokesperson for the Greater London Authority (GLA), said: “The relevant official was only made aware of this complaint in June 2024. The former Deputy Mayor for Business stepped down from his role in November last year and City Hall is not able to investigate matters concerning former employees.”